


Nightmares

by nicostolemybones (fatherlords)



Series: Solangeloweek 2020 [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Nightmare Descriptions, Nightmares, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24913693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatherlords/pseuds/nicostolemybones
Summary: Will has a nightmareI do not give permission for my work to appear on any apps nor do I consent to my work being reposted anywhere. If you see my work outside of my tumblr or outside of any blogs/accounts I mention in my fics, please report/contact them or inform me. If you report them, do not report as if it were your own work.My tumblr is @nicostolemybones
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangeloweek 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1802863
Kudos: 40
Collections: Solangelo Week 2020





	Nightmares

Will woke up in a state of panic, but he didn't move. He didn't even understand his dream- a perfectly normal character from TV running people over in some kind of lawnmower thingy but for crops, then following him into the library and cutting people open, waiting to get to Will to stab him. It sounded so mundane like that, but… Will was petrified, and worse, he knew he was okay, it was a dream, but what if he'd been stabbed? 

So he lay rigid, not daring to move his hand from the side of his stomach because what if he'd been stabbed? His finger twitched, and he could have sworn he felt a trickle of blood. He knew- he knew that there wasn't anything, because he was safe in bed, but what if he moved and something killed him? Behind him, in the corner, always. Something waiting, something that would make its move at the first movement he made, the first loud breath.

Will tried to keep his breathing slow and steady, watching the way the blanket pounded with his pulse, keeping himself deathly still. 

He counted every agonising minute, waiting for someone to wake up, because he knew that as soon as he wasn't alone, he'd be okay. 

It was two hours before anyone woke up, and Will held his breath as he pulled it away from his side, numb. He could have sworn he could feel the blood, but there was nothing there. He didn't feel safe alone, and he didn't even know why.

Why was he reacting like this? It was a stupid dream, one he was already forgetting the details of, one that he really didn't need to linger on, he'd have laughed his head off if it was in a horror movie because it made no sense and the scenes changed unnaturally. So it shouldn't even be scary, but here Will was, knowing that he was fully safe, but the paranoia telling him that he was going to die. He headed to the bathroom, terrified of the window in there. It was always open, a metal bar with holes the way to prop it open on a peg. The paint was a terracotta orange, chipped over the metal, the glass opaque bubble-like circles, but it always looked like something was moving in there. He practically jumped up, making sure to tap the opposite wall- as a kid when he was scared, he called it the life save button- if he was killed, he'd reset like a video game there and he could avoid being killed and he could not die ever. He couldn't press it if the light was off. And he knew he was being paranoid, but the sudden overwhelming feeling that whatever was on the other side of that window was about to kill him had him running out.

Will hated it because he was still capable of rational thought. He knew that he was completely safe, so why… why was he so scared? He knew the life save button didn't work, knew that nothing was lurking to kill him, knew he didn't really have to think in his head like he was telepathic to the creature beyond the window to tell it that he was secretly an immortal alien who wouldn't be sleeping in the hope of intimidating it out of killing him-

Will didn't understand, how one small unsettling dream, could cause him to act so irrational. And the worst part was being fully aware of how irrational it was. He couldn't even call it a nightmare, because it wasn't… it was just unsettling and Will was a baby who couldn't even handle watching Paranorman. 

He made his way to Nico's cabin, to find Nico already sitting up in bed. He was pale and shaky, staring at the corner. "Are… you okay there, Death Boy?"

"Yeah," Nico said quickly, "just. Nightmare. And now the shadows are moving, so either, the shadows are secretly evil, I'm hallucinating, or my eyesight is really, really shit."

"Uh- Nico, that's concerning," Will said, looking to the corner. The shadows were perhaps a little thick and disturbed, but they weren't writing about any more than they usually did. 

"Yeah yeah, I know there's nothing there," Nico said, "I took a picture and there's nothing on the picture- is there nothing on the picture?" Nico held up his phone, a picture of the wall with flash on, no shadows at all.

"The picture only shows the wall, no shadows. You're safe, Nico." Nico nodded, took a deep breath out. 

"Yeah. I- I know. I know. It's just. Nightmare. Bad. Another nightmare that just. Makes no sense. You know the ones? Not even scary but. You're unaware it's a dream even though it's obviously not real. And. It's usually something stupid and. Like some kind of, just, cursed amulet in an indoor market whilst you shop for edgy necklaces. That's gonna give you cancer and kill you. I mean, that's. Ridiculous. It's not real. But it- the emotions, the fear… maybe, the nightmare is about Tartarus, because it- feels, like it. The feelings, it feels like it, same terror. Is- is that a thing?"

Oh.

Will paused. 

Because was that a thing?

"Like, I didn't, directly dream anything of what happened," Nico clarified, "but, the emotions were, yeah, the, fear of death, abandonment, feeling like, somethings watching me, hopelessness, and I, woke up smelling pomegranates."

"My nightmares are just, increasingly violent," Will said, sitting on the edge of Nico's bed, "and then they manifest in… I don't even know if I can call it paranoia because I'm fully aware I'm being irrational. Or, I just, thrash about and yell in my sleep. And they can trigger weird anxiety attacks and. They manifest in the weirdest of ways and they make no sense yet they leave me absolutely terrified for my life even when I know I'm safe. I don't even know if I can call them nightmares."

"Some of my nightmares are just… recurrent flashbacks, others are just… really, really weird. But they freak me out and make me feel the same fear as the flashbacks. I wake up from them and my heart is pounding like I'm in Tartarus again. If a dream is leaving you feeling like you did back then, then… That's… not good."

"I don't even have trauma," Will shrugged, "I just. I don't understand the nightmares."

"Will, you lived through two demigod wars, you've seen multiple deaths, that's definitely trauma."

"But I barely rem-"

"Remember what happened to you, yeah, trauma amnesia. The more I remembered the more related to my trauma my dreams become. I don't know if that's a thing though. But Will… it's not just the dreams with you. Your anxiety attacks where you can smell the battlefield and feel blood on your hands… kinda sounds like it could be a flashback maybe. But- I'm not an expert. I could be completely wrong. You need a therapist, Will. Your nightmares may just be… a manifestation of trauma. You don't remember most of your trauma to relive it or realise you're reliving it. But it's still there, it still- affects your emotions and stuff. So- maybe it's linked? Again, I'm not an expert."

"How do you stop the nightmares," Will asked quietly, and Nico winced.

"Sorry, buddy, if I knew I'd tell you. I mean, not sleeping works great but after a few days you kinda start hallucinating so I don't recommend just… not… sleeping. I also don't recommend listening to a horror podcast before bed. That's a really bad idea. But I haven't found that eating cheese before bed affects my nightmares so, if cheese is all you have for a 4am snack, just eat it. I mean it might add to nightmares but, when's the last time you didn't have one anyways?"

"Well," Will replied flatly, "this is depressing."

"Yeah, sure is," Nico said, gently patting Will's back, "see a therapist."


End file.
